Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a “child vampire” in a European city with one terrifying detail showing a barbaric ancient practice.

Excavations carried out on a 13th-century bishop’s garden in Chelm, Poland, uncovered a burial marked by two posts - one facing east and another west. The remains found inside, archaeologists confirmed, were that of a young boy, but the grave bore several startling details that set it apart from most others of the time - including one that indicated a gruesome act.

Researchers working on the site found the body - which had been buried on a hill - was pressed into the ground by stones laid across its torso. Polish officials added that the child appeared to have been decapitated before it was buried, with the collection of details suggesting superstitious locals had feared the presence of a “demonic entity”.

Paweł Wira, head of the Chełm branch of the Provincial Office for the Protection of Monuments in Lublin, said the people who buried the child hoped to prevent a “demonic entity from exiting the grave”. He said: “A burial with a face pressed into the ground, cutting off the head or putting stones on the body are some of the burial methods used to prevent a person thought to be a demonic entity from exiting the grave.”